1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved electrophotographic photoconductor comprising a photoconductive layer and a charge-injection controlling layer which are formed on an electroconductive layer.
2. Discussion of Background
In the case of an electrophotographic photoconductor comprising a two-layered photoconductive layer consisting of a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer, which are formed on an electroconductive support, copying operation is performed in the following manner:
The surface of the photoconductor is uniformly charged in the dark to a predetermined polarity by a corona charger; the uniformly charged photoconductor is exposed to a light image so that a latent electrostatic image is formed on the photoconductor; the thus formed latent electrostatic image is developed to a visible toner image by a developer comprising an electrically charged toner; and the developed image can be transferred to a transfer sheet when necessary.
In the above copying operation, occasionally it happens that white spots appear in the developed toner images which are transferred to a transfer sheet.
More specifically, in the case of normal development, a latent electrostatic image formed on a photoconductor is developed to a visible toner image by a toner which is electrically charged to an opposite polarity to that of a latent electrostatic image formed on the photoconductor. In this case, such white spots have a diameter of about 0.1 mm to several mm, in which no toner particles are deposited within a black solid image area.
In the case of reversal development, in which a latent electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor is developed with a toner which is electrically charged to the same polarity as that of the latent electrostatic image on the photoconductor, and toner particles are deposited in the shape of a spot having a diameter of 1 mm to several mm in an area where no toner particles should be deposited.
The above-mentioned abnormal spots on the transfer sheet often appear particularly when the image formation and copying process comprising a series of steps, such as charging, exposure, development and image transfer, is repeated. As the image formation and copying process is repeated, the occurrence of such spots becomes more frequent, the number and size of the spots increase. Some photoconductors suffer from the occurrence of such abnormal spots from the initial stage of the image formation and copying process.
As a matter of course, the above-mentioned abnormal spots on the transfer sheet significantly degrade the copying and printing quality when image formation is performed in electrophotographic copying machine, printer and facsimile apparatus.
It is considered that the appearance of such abnormal spots on the transfer sheet results from, for example, local injection of electrical charge into the photoconductive layer from the electroconductive support of the photoconductor. More specifically, when the photoconductor is electrically charged by a corona charger, the surface of the photoconductive layer is charged to a predetermined potential. However, when an electric charge having a polarity opposite to that of the electric charge on the surface of the photoconductive layer is injected into the photoconductive layer from the electroconductive support of the photoconductor, the electric potential of the charge-injected portion is locally decreased. As a result, the photoconductive layer is not uniformly charged and a latent electrostatic image formed on the photoconductive layer cannot be developed to a uniform visible toner image.
In order to prevent the injection of electric charges into the photoconductive layer from the electroconductive support, it has been proposed to provide an intermediate layer between the electroconductive support and the photoconductive layer.
For example, an intermediate layer made of a cellulose nitrate resin is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 47-6341, 48-3544 and 48-12034; an intermediate layer made of a nylon resin in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 48-47344, 52-25638, 58-30757, 58-63945, 58-95351, 58-98739 and 60-66258; an intermediate layer made of a vinyl acetate resin in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 48-26141; an intermediate layer made of a maleic acid resin in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 49-69332 and 52-10138; and an intermediate layer made of a polyvinyl alcohol resin in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 58-105155.
The appearance of abnormal spots on the transfer sheet is in fact decreased when a photoconductor comprising any of the above-mentioned intermediate layers is used, as compared with a photoconductor without such an intermediate layer. Thus it is considered that such intermediate layers have a function of decreasing the occurrence of such abnormal spots. The above-mentioned conventional intermediate layers, however, decrease the photosensitivity of the photoconductor, and the residual potential on the photoconductor is built up as the image formation and copying process is repeated. In addition to the above, the above-mentioned conventional resin-based intermediate layers are susceptible to the moisture contained in the air, so that the residual potential on the photoconductor is apt to increase particularly under the conditions of low temperature and low humidity. This is accompanied by deposition of toner particles on the background of the transfer sheet when the development is performed by use of a toner which is electrically charged to an opposite polarity to that of a latent electrostatic image to be developed.